How a Weak Defense Industrial Base Harms US Military

The U.S. military is only as strong as its ability to procure needed weapons systems and other defense materials, and right now, America’s defense industrial base is sorely lacking, experts say.

“Unfortunately, like the armed services themselves, they have been neglected,” Robert Greenway, director of the Center for National Defense at The Heritage Foundation, says of the U.S. defense industrial base.

Instead of producing all of our defense materials at home, the U.S. has outsourced some military production, but “there are some things we don't want in the hands of our adversaries, and there's some things, many things, we don't want under their control or influence,” Greenway says.

Foreign production of defense materials is not only a risk from a national security perspective, it also takes economic opportunities away from the U.S., says Richard Stern, director of the Center for the Federal Budget at The Heritage Foundation.

“When we're talking about what's good for the defense industrial base, we're also talking about what builds high-quality, high-paying jobs in the US, what allows the U.S. to be the most productive and advanced country on the planet,” Stern says.

Greenway and Stern recently traveled to Texas, one of the few states that have managed to build up strong military production capabilities. The Lone Star State, according to the research experts, can and should serve as a model for expanding defense production across America.

Greenway and Stern join “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain why the defense industrial base is so critical to U.S. military strength, and how increased production will serve all Americans through economic stimulation.